200 - HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
grew up, and eight of them still living, viz., Sarah, Joseph, Jane, Rebecca, John, Ann, Mary, and David. Mr. S. has been noted as a hunter, having spent many days and night with his gun. He has killed deer by the hundred, and other smaller game without number; also a few bears. He followed hunting every year more or less, until the last few years he has become so badly crippled that he has to forego the privilege. He says every summer and fall he would work just as hard as he could to get his work .out of the way, then would take his gun and camp equipage and start for the northwest woods to take his annual hunt, never returning without having killed some deer.
Mr. Stephenson tells of an almost improbable instance that came under his observation, the truthfulness of which is verified by his wife. One day he killed a deer, and brought it home before dressing it. When he was taking out the entrails he felt a hard substance in the heart; he examined it, and called his wife to show it to her. Upon cutting open the spot in the heart, they found a bullet that had been imbedded there at some time previous, and the wound had healed over, leaving the bullet remaining in the heart.
JOHN STEPHENSON
was born in Logan County, Ohio, in 1839, and came with his father, Charles Stephenson, to Perry Township in 1855. In 1863 he married Miss Caroline Leach. He is located on section 16.
NEWTON MILLER
was born in Perry Township in 1845. He lived with his parents on the farm ; received a fair common education; the age of eighteen he commenced teaching district school, which he followed until 1875, at which time he engaged in the grocery trade at Pemberton, and is engaged in the same business at the present time; he is also post-master and township clerk. In 1874 he was married to Miss Kate Wilson. They have two children: Maud, born 1877; and Mable, born 1879.
Wm. Miller, the father of the above, was born in Pennsylvania in 1802; came to Franklin County, Ohio, in 1816, where he remained until 1824, when he came to Shelby County. Here he married Lucinda Goble, a daughter of Caleb Goble (who located in Shelby County in 1814 or 1815), in 1826. They raised a family of twelve children, eight of whom are still living.
JACOB V. WILSON.
Thomas Wilson, grandfather of the above, came to America about 1750, and located in New Jersey, where, in 1754, he married Martha McCracken, by whom he had six children. John, the eldest of the six, was born in 1755. At the age of eighteen years he entered the army under Washington; was at the battle of Trenton ; was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware: was in the battle of Princeton and at Monmouth; was present when Washington received the news of Arnold's treason; and was at the trial and hanging of Major Andre.
Thomas Thompson, the grandfather of Mr. Wilson on his mother's side, came from Ireland about 1750, and located in New York City, where he married, and shortly afterwards moved to New Jersey, and raised a family, of which Jane Thompson, the mother of Mr. Wilson, was the youngest. John Wilson and Jane Thompson, the parents of Jacob V. were married in 1799. They raised a family of five children, of which Jacob V. is the youngest. He was born in New Jersey in 1807. When a young man learned the wagon and carriage trade ; commenced a shop for himself in 1824. In 1833 he married Elizabeth West. By this union they had a family of eight children, viz., Samuel, Jennie, Vincent, J. Wesley, Susan, Kate, Hattie, and Jacob. They moved to Shelby County in 1858, and located in Pemberton, where he started a shop, and opened the first hotel in the town of Pemberton. He filled the office of justice of the peace nine years in New Jersey and six in Perry. Mrs. Wilson died in 1867. Mr. Wilson is now making his home with his daughter, Mrs. J. S. Slagle, having retired from business on account of ill health.
JUDGE DAVID HENRY.
This early pioneer and settler of Shelby County was born in Pennsylvania in 1770. The first place we know of him living was in Kentucky; his next place of residence was Champaign County, Ohio. February, 1814, he moved to Perry Township, then in Miami County, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 28. He was the first white settler in Perry Township. At the time of his location there was not a settler within three miles of him. In the spring of 1817 he was elected clerk of his township, and acted as such for a number of years. In the fall of the same year (1817) he was elected justice of the peace, and received his commission from Thomas Worthington, then Governor of Ohio. He was re-elected to the same office in 1821, 1824, 1826, 1829, and 1832. Also was the first commissioner's clerk of the county, which position he filled from the organization of the county until the fall of 1820, when he was elected as commissioner of the county, but resigned the same in the fall of 1821. He was also appointed by the court as director for the survey and sale of lots of the town of Sidney. In the year 1826 he received a commission from Governor Jeremiah Morrow as Associate Judge for the Court of Common Pleas of Shelby County. To his papers, which have been kept on file, and preserved by his daughter, Mrs. Ried, we are indebted for much of our information in regard to the county as well as to Perry Township. Judge Henry was one of the prominent and leading citizens at the organization of the county, and filled some official position in both county and township from their organization to the time of his death, which occurred March 29, 1834. He raised a family of ten children, only two of whom are now living in the county, viz., David Henry, Jr., and Mrs. Wm. R. Ried, both of Perry Township.
David Henry, Jr., was born February 17, 1815. He and a sister who were twins are said to be the first births in what is now Perry Township. David Henry is now the oldest settler in the township, having had his home in the township for over sixty-seven years. He has seen the woods of Perry become a fine, fertile, and well-improved portion of the county.
ALLEN S. FORSYTH.
James Forsyth, father of the above, was born in Pennsylvania in 1776. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Shelby County, having settled here as early as 1820, first locating in the town of Sidney, where very shortly afterward he was elected treasurer of the county, which position he filled some eight years. In 1824 he moved to Perry Township, where he died in 1837. Allen S., the subject of this sketch, was born in Franklin Co., Ohio, in 1818. When but a few days old his mother died. His father married again when Allen was about three years old. When he was four years of age his father bound him out to his brother-in-law, who lived in Licking County, until he should be twenty-one years of age. He lived with his brother-in-law until he was nine years of age, when on account of bad usage he ran away, and started to 'find his father. Barefoot and alone, without money or help, and not knowing where his father lived, he fled as fast as he could, not caring which way he went, only so that he was not caught and taken back. Without food all the day he trudged along, and before night he was in Columbus. Wandering along the street tired, hungry, and forlorn, he was observed by a man, who soon saw that he was running away. The man stopped him, asked him where he was going, where he came from, and many other questions, all of which young Allen answered honestly. The man took him home with him, gave him his supper and a good bed ; but the boy mistrusted that the man intended to return him to his master in the morning; and being determined not to go back, he was up in the morning before any of the family, quietly slipped out of the house, and was again on the road. Before leaving town he heard of a horse-race that was to be run that day, several miles out in the country. Having been trained as a jockey to ride races, he thought to himself he would go to the races, and perhaps he could get a chance to ride one of the horses and make some money to help take him on his way. After arriving at the race ground he met a man who had a horse there that he knew ; the man also knew the boy and had seen him ride. He agreed to let the boy ride his horse. While they were talking, another man who was standing by asked the boy his name; he told him Allen Forsyth. He then asked him if he was any relation of James Forsyth, of Sidney. As quick as Sidney was mentioned he then remembered that that was where his father lived. He then learned the direction and the road, did not stop to ride the race, but made his way as fast as he could toward Sidney when night overtook him. He stopped at a house, and asked to stay over night. The man asked him his name, and where he was going. He told him his name, and that he was, going to his father in Sidney The man told him his father did not live in Sidney, but had moved on to a farm. This man was Henry Sturm, of Green Township. He took the boy in, kept him all night, and the next day (as it was rainy). The following day Mr: Sturm took his horse, and told the boy he would go with him, as there was no road and was woods all the way. 'Mr. Sturm went with the boy to within sight of home, when he left him.' This was in the north part of Perry Township. When the boy entered his father's house he did not know him at first, but soon recognized him. He heard the boy's story of misusage without reproving him, kept him a short time, when he was again sent away from home, and from that time on he made his way through the world without the advice or assistance of parents or friends. For a number of years he made. his 'home with Isaac Wilkinson. In 1841 he married Elizabeth Smoot. By this union they had three children, only one now living, viz., Jacob M., born 1845. Mr. Forsyth for many years followed buying and shipping stock, but has now retired from active life, having seen all the hardships of an orphan boy raised in the woods, he having spent sixty-two years in Shelby County.
HENRY HARBOUR.
The Harbours came to America from England about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and settled in Virginia, where the grandfather and father of Mr. Harbour were born, and lived till 1818, when they came to Champaign County, Ohio, where Henry was born in 1825. In 1849 he married Nancy Hall, by whom he had one child, viz., Jennie, at present the wife of David Pool.
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Mr. Harbour's wife died in 1856. In 1860 he came to Shelby County, and the same year married Elizabeth Persinger, with whom he has three children, Charles W., Elmer E., and Harry. He is. located near Pemberton on the old homestead of Booth Burditt. The grandfather of Mr. H. was a soldier of the Revolution. His father (Jesse Harbour) was in the war of 1812. His grandmother (who was a Packard) when quite young was taken a prisoner together with all her brothers and sisters by the Indians. They were taken to where Chillicothe, Ohio, now is, and all massacred except her. She was rescued by the whites, and restored to her friends in Virginia.
JOHN H. ELLIOTT.
Leonard Elliott, the father of the above, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, in 1786. He lived here until after the war of 1812 (having served as a soldier in that war), when he moved to Butler County, Ohio. Here his wife died, and he afterwards married Melinda Holden, and came to Shelby County in 1830, and located on section 5, Perry Township, and died in 1864. His wife died in 1850.
John H., the subject of this sketch, was born in Butler County in )822; came with his father to Perry when he was eight years of age. Here he grew up to manhood in the wilds of Perry, and was educated in her cabin schoolhouses, and has never had a home elsewhere than on the old homestead. In 1843 he married Jane Burditt, with whom he lived till 1856, wheh she died, leaving two children, viz., Elizabeth M. and Sarah M. In 1857 he married Sarah Burditt, a sister of his first wife. By this union they have two children, William T. and John B. When Mr. Elliott commenced for himself his father gave him one hundred acres of land in the woods, on condition that he pay to the balance of the heirs $650. This is all the aid he has ever had. He was one of fifteen children, only two of whom are now left in the county.
Booth Burditt, the father of Mrs. Elliott, settled in Perry in 1820, where Mrs. Elliott was born in 1825. He was one of the pioneer local preachers of the county, and was a member of the first class organized in Perry Township. It was at his house that the first meetings were held. He died in July, 1843. Mr. Elliott also has been identified with the M: E. Church since he was fifteen years of age.
LEONARD T. ELLIOTT
was born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1827. Came with his father, Leonard Elliott, to Shelby County in 1830; has lived in the county, and on the same farm from that time to the present. In 1848 he married Elizabeth Kemp. They have had born to them two children, Irwin V. and Lillie L. Mr. Elliott is located on part of the old homestead of his father.
JACOB L. BARRINGER.
The grandfather of the above was of German birth; came to America just previous to the Revolutionary .War, and settled near Philadelphia, where he bought two large farms: These he sold some time afterward, and took his pay in Continental script, which was good at that time, but before he disposed of it was not worth a dollar. It was here that Jacob Barringer, the father of Jacob L., was born in 1778. From there they removed to Virginia, and married Lucinda Linsey, and moved to Williamsport, Maryland, previous to the war of 1812. It was here in 1818 that Jacob L. was born, and in 1.820 was taken to Virginia, where he remained till 1831, when he came to Montgomery County, Ohio, lived there till 1838, when they removed to Miami County. It was after this that Jacob L. learned the brick mason trade in Springfield, Ohio; worked at his trade a few years. In 1842 he married Susan Black, and moved to Clarke County, Ohio, lived there a few years, then returned to Miami County, where he remained until 1851, when he came with his wife and three children to Shelby County, and located on section 12, Perry Township, where he bought eighty acres of land in the woods. He has made of this piece of land a fine home with good buildings. Mrs. Barringer died. July 15, 1881, having raised a family of six children, whose names are as follows: Jane, Oscar J., John A., Jacob I., William T., and Henrietta F.
O. J. BARRINGER,
son of J. L. Barringer, was born in Miami County in 1846; came with his father to Shelby County in 1851, and has lived in Perry Township from that time to the present. In 1878 he married Miss Sally S. Thorn. By this union they have one child, Eda, born 1879. Mr. B. was thrown on his own resources at the age of nineteen years. Having acquired a fair common school education, he taught school and clerked in a store for several years. In 1873 he engaged with J. E. Wilkinson, of Pemberton, in buying and shipping grain, at which business he is still engaged. In 1815 he was appointed agent for the C. C. C. and I. Ry. at Pemberton; also agent for the United States Express, which position he fills at the present time. Mr. B. has the confidence of the people of his township, as shown by his being elected treasurer of the township for a number of years.
URI M. STILES.
Three brothers by the name of Stiles came from England to America as early as 1750. One of them located in New Hampshire, one went to the Carolinas, and one to New Jersey. The direct ancestors of Uri M. settled in New Hampshire. It was here that Asel Stiles, the father of the above, was born in 1783, and lived there until manhood, at which time he went to New York State, where he married Urana Johnston in 1805. In 1813 they removed to Ohio, and located in Greene County, where they lived until 1832, when they removed to Logan County. Their family at that time consisted of father, mother, and eight children. It was here that Uri was brought when but a few months old. Here he lived, and was educated in the common schools of the neighborhood. He remained with his parents while they lived. His father died in 1859 ; his mother in 1862. On December 24, 1862, he married Rachel A. Wilkinson, and the following year settled in Perry Township, on the same section settled on by the grandfather of Mrs. Stiles in 1818. Mr. Stiles remained on this place until 1878, when he removed to his new home in Pemberton, where he has built a fine brick dwelling, one of the best in the township. Mrs. Stiles died January 14, 1881, leaving two children, viz., Ann U., born 1868, and Stella M., born 1877.
There are but few who have had more ancestors who have taken an important part in the freedom of our country from the British yoke than did the ancestors of Mr. Stiles. His grandfather Stiles served five years in the army of the Revolution. His grandfather Johnston, together with seven of his brothers, also served throughout the war. One of them was killed at the battle of Bennington. They were present at the surrender of Burgoyne. Also Mr. Johnston was by the side of Gen. Washington when the news was brought to him of Benedict Arnold's treason.
G. W. LIPPINCOTT
was born in the State of New Jersey in 1826. His parents were Jacob Lippincott and Debro Burge Lippincott. He came to Shelby County in 1847, and married Sarah J. Line in 1856. They have raised a family of five children, viz., James, John, Edward, William, and Franklin.
EMERY F. MARRS
was born in Illinois in 1855 ; came with his father, William Marrs, to Shelby County in 1860. In 1879 he married Jane Key. From this union they have two children, Myrtle D., born 1880, and Harry Lee, born 1881.
ISAIAH W. STALEY.
About the year 1750 Conrad Staley, a German by birth, emigrated to America, and located in the colony of Pennsylvania near Lancaster. It was here, in the year 1762, that John Staley, the father of the subject of our sketch, was born. About 1780 he went to North Carolina, and a few years afterward married Mary Smith, and had a family of fourteen children, eleven of whom lived to grow up to manhood and womanhood. Isaiah W. was the twelfth child, and was born March 8, 1808. He lived with his father till he was eighteen years of age. His father was a blacksmith by trade. Isaiah learned the trade with his father. At the age of eighteen his father gave him his time. He then started out to travel and see the country. He spent five years travelling from place to place. He would stop and work at his trade a short time in a place, then start again and travel until his means were nearly exhausted, then stop and work awhile. In this manner he did until he had travelled over North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, without any object in view except to see the country. As early as 1827 he visited his relatives in Shelby County. He finally in 1832 brought up in Little York, Montgomery County, where he formed the acquaintance of Susan Hutchins, to whom he was married the same year. At the time of his marriage he had but $40; with this he started shop, and worked a short time until ague and sore eyes compelled him' to quit work. By the time he was able to work again he found himself $85 in debt, and not a dollar to pay with. He went to work again as soon as able and paid his indebtedness, and worked on until he had saved $100. With this money he took his wife and two children to Allen County, Ohio, near Fort Amanda, and entered eighty acres of land. This was in February, 1836. They soon got tired of their home in the woods; and the following June he traded his land for eighty acres in Perry Township, Shelby County (the same is now owned by Daniel Vandemark), agreeing to pay $200 difference. He moved on to this land in 1837. At the time he settled on it there was not a stick cut. He remained here until he had cleared sixty-two acres, when he sold it to Daniel Vandemark for $4000 cash. A short time previous to the sale of this land he had bought one hundred and thirty-five acres in Logan County, and moved on to it. This also was all in timber, which he cleared, and built upon it a saw-mill on the Miami River opposite Nicewonger's mill. Mr. Staley within the next fourteen years bought some six hundred and sixty-two acres, and during the same time bought the Nicewonger flouring mill. In 1876 he sold his six hundred and sixty-two acres and mill for $14,000, and moved on to another tract of one hundred and six acres, for which he
202 - HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
paid $5000, and afterward sold the same. Mr. Staley has owned in Logan and Shelby counties fifteen hundred acres of land. He now owns in Perry Township seven hundred and seventy acres, all well improved. Mr. Staley has cleared with his own hands over three hundred acres—perhaps more than any other man in the county. When he located in the woods first, he took a lease on some land that had been deadened. On this Ile raised his first grain. From that day to this he has never bought a bushel of grain. Mr. Staley has made what he has got by industry and economy, never having had a dollar given him Neither would he ever receive a gift or present from any person. His father, when he died in North Carolina, left a large estate, but Isaiah would never accept a dollar of it. He said his proud spirit would never let him receive help. He says he started without anything, and determined when he started to make a success of life by his own industry, and has adhered to that resolution to the present. Mr. and Mrs. Staley have had a family of eleven children, viz., Roswell P., Amanda E., Catharine E., Preston C., Martha, Mary J., Columbus, Milinda, Napoleon B., Harriett, and John. The first five named only are living, the others are buried in the cemetery at Pemberton.
DANIEL VANDEMARK, Jr.
The Vandemarks are originally from Holland. They came to America previous to the Revolutionary war, and settled in Pennsylvania. Here, in the year 1782, Daniel Vandemark, Sen., was born, and lived until 1809, when he moved to Fairfield County, Ohio. In 1805 he married Catharine Bush, born in Pennsylvania in 1784. They remained in Fairfield County until December, 1814, when they came to Shelby or rather Miami County, and located two and :a half miles south of where Sidney now is. The family at that time consisted of father, mother, and three children. Henry B., the fourth one, was born after their arrival in Shelby County. Elizabeth, the eldest one, was born in 1806. She afterward married Hiram Wilson. Catharine was born in 1810. She married Judge William A. Carey. Daniel was born in 1812, and Henry B. in 1815.. Mr. Vandemark died in 1840; his wife died in 1848.
Daniel Vandemark, Jr., was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, October 3, .1812, consequently was less than three years of age when brought to this county. He lived at home with his father until 1849, when he married Margaret Duboise, and shortly afterward located in Green Township, where he lived until 1865, when he removed to Perry, where he now resides. Mr. V. has raised a family of four children, viz., Laura, Marcus E., Elizabeth, and Josephine. His opportunity for education was limited. He had to walk two and a half miles through the woods to Sidney, and cross the river to get to the school-house, made of buckeye logs, where he received his first school instruction. Mr. Vandemark has been one of the large land owners of the county. He at one time owned over one thousand acres, some of which he has given away, but still owns over six hundred acres. He has been quite an invalid for a number of years, and has retired from labor, but has a competence for his remaining clays.
OLIVER MAGIE
was born in Scotland, and came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, and served in the Federal army all through the war. Was taken prisoner by the British, parolled, took the oath, but did so under compulsion, and again joined the Federal army, and served throughout the war.
Joseph Magie, the father of Oliver, was born in New Jersey in 1770, migrated to Hamilton County, Ohio, as early as 1793. Here he married Abigail Crane. He had learned the tanning trade previous to coining to Hamilton County, and it is said he tanned the first leather that was tanned in Cincinnati. Served in the war of 1812. He died near Cincinnati in 1850.
Oliver Magie, the subject of this sketch, was born in Hamilton County in the year 1812, where he lived until 1834, when he married Miss Nancy Clark, and the following year came to Shelby County. He bought eighty acres of land in Perry Township, for which he was to pay $200. He and his wife had one hundred dollars, which they paid on their land. They lived on their place a year or two, became discouraged, and starved out, and' returned to where they had come from, rented land, and remained there until 1840, when they returned to their land in the woods, where he has remained to the present time. His wife died in 1851, leaving eight children. In 1852 he married Polly Castle, by whom he had three children. His second wife died in 1856. He married his present wife, Miss Sarah Richardson, in 1857. From this union they have two children. Mr. M. has been the father of thirteen children, only six of whom are now living. He has passed through afflictions and privations that but few have met with. He says he has paid out for doctor bills alone not less than three thousand dollars. He has seen. the time when they had eaten the last morsel of meal that was about the house, and had not a cent with which to buy more; was refused corn by a heartless neighbor who had plenty, because he had no money to pay for it. No wonder they became discouraged, and returned to where there was plenty. Mr. M. now has a pleasant home, with a competence for the remainder of his days. It is to be hoped that the bitter cup of affliction has been passed for the future of his remaining days.
JAMES JOHNSTON.
The father of James was Charles Johnston, one of the first settlers of Mosquito Creek. He was born near Lexington, Ky., in. the year 17 90. He was brought by his father, Silas Johnston, to the head-waters of Mosquito Creek, within twelve miles of where James now lives, in the year 1799. Here he married Miss Nancy McCaw. After marriage he moved to Urbana, where he engaged in trade. His principal trade was with the Indians for furs, skins, etc. They lived in Urbana until the spring of 1818, when they moved to Perry Township and located on the N. E. quarter of section 21. Silas Johnston, his father, was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and also a major in the war of 1812. Charles and two of his brothers were in the war of 1812.
Charles Johnston was said to have been the first white boy that lived on the banks of Mosquito Creek. An incident is related of Silas Johnston and two of his sons who came to the head-waters of Mosquito Creek to build a cabin previous to their moving to their land. They were camped near where they purposed building their. cabin. There was an Indian camp close by. One evening as they were sitting around their camp fire, a couple of Indians came to their camp. They were drunk and became quarrelsome. Johnston's gun stood beside a tree close by. One of the Indians started to get the gun, but Johnston anticipated him and got the gun first, drew up to shoot the Indian, but changed his mind and hit him with the gun and knocked him down. The Indians then left, but Johnston knew they would soon return with others; so they put out their fire and went and secreted themselves in the woods elsewhere until morning. They then .returned to Kentucky and remained there some nine months, when they again returned to their home in the woods. Charles Johnston was one of the early Commissioners of Shelby County. He continued to reside on his farm until about 1863, when he moved to Pemberton, where he resided until his death in 1865.
James Johnston was born in Perry Township in 1826, on the place entered by his father, Charles Johnston. His father's family consisted of fourteen children, twelve of whom were born in Perry Township. In 1848' he married Miss Lephia Newman. By this union they have had three children, two only now living, viz., Nancy J. and Charles W. Mr. Johnston has lived in Perry Township fifty-six years, never having had a home anywhere else. He now resides on section 15, where he has a fine farm with good improvements. He commenced for himself when he was nineteen years of age. He bought his time of his father, agreeing to pay him one hundred and fifty dollars. The first money he earned for himself was by scoring timber at forty cents per day ; the next .was to work for ten dollars per month. In this way he made his start, working by the day and month until after he married, when he still worked at fifty cents per day for furniture to keep house with. In this manner he kept on until he had saved enough to buy forty acres of land. From this small beginning he has now got a comfortable home of 140 acres of well improved land.
JOHN LINE
and wife came to Perry Township in 1831 or 1832. Mr. Line died in 1846, leaving a wife and six children, whom she raised to become men and women. By her own efforts she supported them while young. George, the oldest son, entered the army and died at Bermuda Hundred in 1864. The second son remained at home and died. The third son, Martin, entered the regular army in 1863, served to the close of the war, was with Sherman in. his march to the sea, returned home, and died of consumption. Of the three daughters only two are living, Mrs. Lippincott and Ann. Mrs. Line, the mother of the above family, after raising them and devoting her life for their comfort, and finally seeing them, all but two, taken from her—she and her youngest daughter were living by themselves—on the 18th day of June, 1880, in her sixty-ninth year, she went to pay a neighbor a visit. After being in the neighbor's house a short time—she was seated on a chair—when David Shank, a blacksmith of Pt. Jefferson, entered' the house. There was no one about the house except Mrs. Inskip, the lady of the house, and her daughter and a child. When the assassin entered the house and saw the old lady sitting there, he said, " What are you doing here?" and ordered her out of the house, and immediately took hold of the chair and upset her on the floor. Mrs. Inskip picked up a stick to drive him away : he grabbed the stick, took it from her ; she then ran out of the house, he after her ; the old lady then followed out of the door. The villain seeing' her, picked up a wash-tub and knocked her down with it; then picked up a piece of fence rail and beat out her brains, mashing her face and killing her instantly. He then ran after Mrs. Inskip, who was running for help. Mr. Lippincott and his son, who happened to be working close by, heard the screams and came just in time to save her. The murderer then ran away, was followed by parties who overtook him at the river, was taken to prison, tried, and found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
THOMAS J. JOHNSTON,
son of James F., was born in 1849. In 1869 he married Miss Maggie Young. They have three children, viz., Frederick T., Rosanna, and Harly. They reside on the homestead with their father.
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO - 203
JAMES F. JOHNSTON.
Alexander Johnston, the father of the above, was born in Kentucky. Came with his father to Ohio at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and located in Montgomery County. Shortly afterwards they moved to Clarke County, Ohio. It was here that James F. was born in the year 1819, and rocked in a sugar trough in a rude cabin near Springfield, Ohio. Educated in the cabin school-house, his first book was the alphabet, printed on a board, and suspended by a string around his neck. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed for three years to learn the blacksmith trade, for which he received one hundred dollars. In 1840 he married Miss Rosanna Shattler, and the next year (1841) moved to Shelby County, and located at Pt. Jefferson, where he built a small log shop, and commenced work.
When Mr. J. and his wife moved to the county they brought the whole of their effects, together with his blacksmith tools, in a two-horse wagon. His cash capital was three dollars and a half to commence business on. At that time there was very little money in circulation. He received in exchange for his labor, corn, venison, saw-logs, etc. The corn and produce he shipped by canal to Cincinnati to get the cash with which to buy iron. He ironed the first broad wheeled wagon ever ironed in the county.
In short, to show what industry and economy will do, he commenced with three dollars and a half, worked at smithing about ten years, and quit with between five and six thousand dollars, all made at the anvil, and by buying and selling land. In 1854 he moved to Pemberton, and worked a short time at his trade, then, the same year, he bought his present home in section 9, where he has resided since that time. Mrs. Johnston died in 1876. They have had two children, Lewis M. and Thomas J.
Mr. Johnston has filled the offices of township trustee, township clerk, and director of county infirmary. His father and grandfather were both in the war of 1812, his father having been wounded in battle. The Merandas, the ancestors of Mr. Johnston's mother, were of Irish and Scotch descent. We first find them after coming to this country located in Kentucky, where Mr. Johnston's mother was born. They lived in Kentucky during the Indian troubles along the Ohio River. Grandfather Meranda had a sister who was scalped by the Indians, and lived for several days afterwards. The settlers at that time never thought of leaving their houses without their rifle, not knowing what minute they would be attacked by some lurking Indian.
One time Mr. Meranda saw two Indians making for his house. He ran to the house ahead of them, and shot one of then the other fled. Another time, while passing through the woods, he heard a noise ; upon investigation he discovered an Indian in a tree top pulling bark. It took him but a moment to bring his rifle to bear upon him and fire. The Indian fell, when Mr. M. discovered that another Indian was at the foot of the tree; but he hastily fled. Prior to Ohio becoming a State the Merandas settled in Clarke County near Springfield, Ohio.
G. W. LIPPINCOTT
was born in New Jersey in 1826, came to Shelby County in 1847, and married Sarah J. Line in 1856. Mrs. Lippincott is a daughter of John Line and the old lady who was so foully murdered by David Shank. They have raised a family of five children, as follows; James, born 1861; John, born 1864; Edward, born 1866; William, born 1868; and Franklin, born 1874.
GEORGE STURM.
The first we can learn of the Sturms is that in 1757 Henry Sturm was born in Virginia, and came to Ohio, and located in Clarke County ; but the time is not known, but was prior to the war of 1812, for he had three sons in the army who went from Clarke County. He was married to Elizabeth Weaver, and had a family of fourteen children. George and John, twin brothers, were the youngest of the family, and were born in Clarke County, January 31, 1813.
In August or September, 1814, Henry Sturm and his family moved to what is now Shelby County, and located in Green Township. The nearest white settler to them at that time was David Henry, nearly six miles distant, and A. Wilkinson in Champaign County, six miles distant. Here in the woods George Sturm was raised without the privilege of schools, the Indians being far more numerous in those days than the whites. George and John at the death of their father in 1832 bought the old homestead. This they owned together for a number of years, when George sold his interest to his brother, and removed to Illinois, but remained there only a few months, when he returned and bought the homestead of his wife's father—Isaac Stout—in Perry Township, section 9, where he now resides. He was married to Mary A. Stout in 1833. They have raised a family of five children, Matilda, Rebecca, Martha, Hannah E., and Rachel A. Isaac Stout located in Perry in 1831. Mr. Sturm has retired from labor, being afflicted with a nervousness that prevents him from labor. His wife also has been a sufferer for years, and is compelled to walk with crutches. Mr. Sturm has been living in the county sixty-eight years.
BENJAMIN MANNING
was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in a block-house near the mouth of the Little Miami River, in the year 1793 Here his father—John Manning —built a mill on the Little Miami at Round Bottom. In the year 1799 they removed to Miami County, and built the first mill in the town of Piqua, or where Piqua now stands, for Mr. Manning was one of the proprietors of that town. He ground the flour for Gen. Harrison's army for their march to Northwest Ohio. Here, in 1815 or 1816, John Manning died.
Benjamin Manning came to what is now Shelby County as early as 1817 or 1818, and settled in the south part of the county, in Orange Township, for a year or two, then removed to Perry Township between Christmas and New Year's in 1819. He settled on fractional section 36, which he had entered some time prior. In the year 1831 he built a saw-mill on the Miami River, in which he built a corn cracker. He lived in Perry until the year 1861, when he moved to the town of Sidney, where he died in 1868.
LEONIDAS DEWEESE
was born in Shelby County, May 20, 1837. John M. DeWeese, the father of the above, was born in Virginia, and came to Ohio at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and located in Miami County. He was but a small boy at the time. He remained in Miami until 1833, when he came to Perry, and located on section 12. His home consisted of two hundred and seventy-two acres, all in the solid woods. His family at the time of their settlement consisted of his wife and five children. He soon made an opening in the woods, erected his cabin, and commenced life in earnest. Year after year the forest disappeared before his axe, until in the year 1849 he had about one hundred acres cleared, and a comfortable home established, when He who doeth all things for the best called him away in the prime of life, leaving a wife and eight children. The widow after a few years married again. The children kept the homestead among themselves, and farmed it as before, and as fast as one of the heirs wished to sell the balance would. buy them out. This course was pursued until the whole place was owned by two of the boys, viz., Newton owns one hundred and twenty acres, and Leonidas one hundred and fifty-two acres. Leonidas, with whom this sketch starts, in 1864 married Miss Margaret A. Thompson. By this union they have eight children, whose names are as follows: Laura D. born 1865; Hamilton G., born 1866; Wyant A., born 1867; Thornton N., born 1869; Lagurna, born 1870; Bertha P., born 1876; and Thurman G., born 1878.
Mr. DeWeese now has one of the fine stand best improved farms in Perry Township. He has built for himself a fine brick dwelling-house at the cost of $4000. Mr. D. has made his home by his own industry and economy, never having inherited anything but the one-eighth interest of his father's farm, which was worth at the time of his father's death about $300.
NICHOLAS STALEY
was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1810. He was a son of Joseph and Catharine (Coble) Staley. In the year 1830 Nicholas came to Shelby County to make for himself a home. The first money he earned was making rails at twenty-five cents per hundred. He followed making rails for several months until he had saved a little money. He the borrowed some money and entered 160 acres of land in Salem Township. He then rented some land and raised wheat and sold it for thirty-five cents a bushel, to pay his borrowed money. His first entry of land was in 1831. He would work at clearing his land until he was out of money, then would go back to Montgomery County and work to get some money, then return to his land and work till he was compelled to recruit his purse again. In this manner he worked along till 1837, when he married Miss Mary Baker and commenced life in earnest. Their neighbors at that time were the Hartmans, Skillens, Kirtlands, Robins, Counts, and McVeighs. Of that number there is not one left who was the head of a family at that time. For their market he used to go to Sandusky with a load of grain, taking eight days to make the trip. He would buy salt and leather and return and sell them to his neighbors. Mr. Staley has raised a family of six children, viz., Margaret A., born 1838; Henry, born 1840; John T., born 1844; Sarah, born 1845; Susan D., born 1850; and Squire N., born 1862. Mr. Staley has made for himself a good home of 386 acres bf land with fine improvements. He now holds two patent deeds for the entry of lands that he took out himself, which he has since improved, the same never having changed hands.
WILLIAM DEWEESE.
Jethro DeWeese, father of the above, was born in Miami County, Ohio, in 1808. He married Lydia DeWeese in 1834. In 1837 he moved to Shelby County and located in Franklin Township, on land he had entered several years previously. They raised a family of nine children, seven still living. William, the fourth of the family, was born in 1839. In 1869 he married Miss Amanda Key, with whom he has one child; Carl E., born 1875. They reside on section 15.. Jethro DeWeese died 1870. His widow died 1876.
204 - HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
JOHN KEY
was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1816. His father, John Key, was born in Virginia in 1781, came to Montgomery County about 1800, where he died in 1815, leaving a wife and four children. John, the fifth child, was not born until some six months after the death of his father. His mother remained in Montgomery until 1836, when she came to Shelby' County and located in Jackson Township. The subject of this sketch came with his mother and remained about one year, then returned to Montgomery, where he lived until 1840, when he made his permanent home in this county. In 1841 he married Miss Lillie Lucas, by whom he had two children, Norman and John H. Mr. Key's wife died July, 1846. He then married Anna Rhinehart in 1847. By his second marriage he has seven children, viz., Amanda, born 1848 ; Rachel, born 1850 ; Elizabeth, born 1853; Jane, born 1856; David R., born 1858; Sherman, born 1864; and Orlando B., born 1870. Mr. Key, when he first came to the county, had fifty dollars, with which he entered forty acres of land in Jackson Township. He then went to work by the day and month until he had saved one hundred dollars, with which he entered eighty acres in Indiana. He then worked on until he saved one hundred dollars more, with which he entered another eighty acres in Indiana. These two eighty-acre lots he traded for the eighty-acre lot he now lives on. It was nearly all in the woods. This he has cleared and improved, and has since added to it two other eighty-acre lots, making his home place consist of 240 acres, all of which is well improved with a good brick dwelling. Beside his home place he owns 300 acres more of improved land in Perry Township. Altogether,, with what he has given to his boys, he owned 743 acres in Perry Township. Beside this he has 141 acres in Champaign County, and property in the towns of Sidney and Millerstown. All this has been accumulated by his own industry and that of his family. There are but few, if any, in the county who have done more hard work than Mr. Key.
JOHN H. KEY
was born in Perry Township in 1843. He is the second son of John Key by his first wife. In 1866 he married Miss Hannah C. Lane. Wm. Lane, the father of Mrs. Key, was born in Oxfordshire, England, came to America in 1838, first stopped in Canada, where he was immediately drafted into the British army, in which he served nine months. At the expiration of his time he came to Dayton, Ohio, where he remained a short time, then came to Shelby County, where, in the year 1843, he married Miss Eliza Jackson, a daughter of Jacob Jackson, who settled in the county in 1822. They raised a family of five children. Mr. Lane died January, 1863.
NORMAN KEY,
the eldest son of John Key, was born Feb. 1842. In Feb. 1865, he married Miss Sarah P. Rike (daughter of Enoch Rike). They have two children, viz., William F., born 1867, and Olla May, born 1871. They are located on section 22.
WILLIAM BAKER.
The Bakers, the ancestors of William Baker, were of German origin. Their first location in the United States was in Virginia, but the time of their settlement there is not known. Here they lived till 1812, when the father of Mr. B. moved to Clarke County, Ohio. Here in the year 1815 the subject of our sketch was born, grew up to manhood, and married. He married Elizabeth Loudenback in 1637, and in 1842 moved with his wife and three children to Shelby County and settled in the north woods of Perry Township, on the banks of the Miami River. When Mr. Baker landed on his place there was a rude cabin, and a few acres underbrushed. It was here in the wilds that Mr. Baker commenced without a dollar, working by days' work for bread for his family, until he could clear land and raise a crop for himself. He owed two hundred dollars .on his land. This he had to make, which, he says, was, the hardest money to: raise he ever tried. Mr. Baker has been one of the successful farmers of Shelby County. He commenced in the woods with an indebtedness of two hundred dollars on his 140 acres of land. He has added to his farm until he has bought 890 acres of well improved land. Esquire Baker has made for himself and each of his family a comfortable home, and now retires from active toil on the farm to enjoy the fruit of his early labor. He has ever had the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, who have honored him with the various offices of honor and trust of township. They had a family of eight children, five of whom are living, viz., Sarah J., born 1841; Mary Elizabeth, born 1844; Margaret A., born 1848; Martin A., born 1852; Lewis W., born 1859.
DAVID REDINBAUGH.
The Redinbaughs are of German descent, and came to the United States at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The direct ancestors of the Shelby County Redinbaughs emigrated to the territory of Ohio at the close of the eighteenth century, and located in Hamilton County, ear Cincinnati. It was here, in the year 1804, that David Redinbaugh was born, and lived till the year 1818, when he came with his father's family—which consisted of six boys and four girls—to Shelby County and located in what is now Orange Township, four miles south of Sidney. Here, in 1830, he married Peggy Lucas, by whom he raised three children. The Lucases are of English descent. The grandfather of Mrs. R. came from England and located in North Carolina, where the father of Mrs. R.—John Lucas—was born in 1784. He married Lillie Medaris and moved to Clermont County, Ohio, in 1807. Here, in 1809, Mrs. R. was born. In 1822 the Lucases moved to Shelby County. David Redinbaugh died in 1879, and is buried at Pt. Jefferson. Mrs. R. now has her home with her son, Solomon D., on the old homestead in Perry Township.
JOHN CRUMBAUGH
The subject of this sketch was born in Kentucky in the year 1800. When four years of age he was brought by his parents to Ohio. They located in Clermont County. Here young John grew up to manhood, and lived until he came to Shelby County, where he now lives, never having voted in but two townships in his life. The Crumbaughs are of German descent, but the time of their emigration to the United States is not known.
Mr. Crumbaugh received but a limited education, only such as was gotten at the primitive log school-house. He was raised on a farm, and has been a farmer all his long life up to the present time. He entered his land from the Government, cleared it himself, and made all its improvements without the aid or help of any but his own family. In the year 1823 he married Elizabeth Medaris. In 1830 they came to Shelby County, and stopped for a few months in the town of Sidney (during which time he entered his land in Perry Township where he now lives). He thought the rent of his house in Sidney was too high—he paid one dollar per month rent. So in the middle of winter he moved his family to a cabin on a 'place close to his land, until he could clear a patch of ground, and erect a cabin for himself. He relates an incident that happened the morning he left Sidney to move to his land. He had used the stable of a man by the name of Hull, who was sheriff of the county, to keep his team in during his stay in town. On the morning he left he went to the sheriff, and told him he wanted to settle with him. The sheriff, who was a rough spoken man, and profane with all, but noble and generous, replied in a rough manner, " What do you want to settle? I don't owe you anything." " Yes, but I owe you for the use of your stable, and want to pay you," replied Mr. C., somewhat embarrassed. The sheriff' replied, "I don't charge anything for that; for if you had not had it some other damn rascal would have had it."
Mr. C. raised a large family of children, only seven of whom are living at the present time. Their names and dates of births are as follows: Peter C., born 1827; Willinath, born 1825; Mary E., born 1829; Daniel H., born 1835 ; Thomas D., born 1841; Hannah J., born 1844 ; and Samuel 1'., born 1847.
Mr. Crumbaugh lost three sons in the service of his country during the rebellion, one of whom was a prisoner for fifteen months, and died in the hospital. Some seven years ago his 'companion, who had journeyed with him by his side for half a century, passed away, and he is left to finish his journey alone, with the esteem and respect of all who know him.
JOHN H. SMOOT
was born in Miami County in the year 1833; was brought by his parents, Jacob G. and Catharine Shunk Smoot, to Shelby County in the year 1839. In 1856 he married Miss Eliza J. Stone. They have three children, viz., Charles E., born 1866; John A., born 1869; and Frank L., born 1872.
The grandfather of Mr. Smoot was a Revolutionary soldier, and was at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
The parents of Mrs. S. settled in Shelby County in the year 1831.
THOMAS ETHRINGTON
was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1823; came to Shelby County in 1833. In the year 1851 married Miss Mary A: Redinbaugh, by whoM he has two children, viz., David S.,. born 1859, and Henrietta, born 1864. The parents of Mr. were William Ethrington and Elizabeth Runalds. Mrs. Ethrington's parents, David and Peggy Lucas Redinbaugh, came to Shelby County in the year 1818.. First located south of Sidney in what is now Orange Township.
WILLIAM R. RIED, ESQ.
James and Christena (Runner) Ried, the parents of the above, came from 'Berkeley County, Virginia, in the year 1810; and settled in Champaign County, Ohio. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812.
William R., the son, was born in Berkeley County,. Virginia, in the year 1810. 'Was brought by his parents to Champaign, where he lived until 1840, when he came to Shelby County.. In the year 1835 he married Miss Susannah Young. By this union there were five children, only one of whom is now living, viz., Dr. S. M. Ried, of Indianapolis,
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO - 205
Indiana. When Mr. Ried moved to Shelby County he located in Perry Township, where he still has his home.
Esq. Ried has been one of the prominent and well-to-do farmers of Perry. Has always had the respect and esteem of his neighbors. Has filled the offices of justice of the peace and trustee of his township. In the year 1863 his wife died. The following year (1864) he married Jean Henry, a daughter of Judge David Henry (the first settler of Perry Township). Mr. Ried had two sons who served in the war of the Rebellion. Both served their full time, and were honorably discharged. Mr. Ried bought the old Henry homestead, on which he now resides. He has retired from active labor on the farm, having gained a competence for himself and family.
PHILIP PECKHAM.
Tradition, together with old records, go to show that the Peckhams are of English descent, and emigrated to America on the Mayflower in 1620, and landed on Plymouth Rock, as also the Winslows of the same family connection. Caleb Peckham, the father of the above, was born in Massachusetts in 1746, and died in 1846. Philip, the youngest child of Caleb, was born in Massachusetts in 1798, married Julia Haskins in 1827, emigrated to Huron County, Ohio, in 1829, where he lived until 1855, when he moved to Shelby County, and located in Perry Township, where he died in 1872. John M., his son, now owns and resides on the same place.
JOHN DILLON
was born in Ireland. ih 1835. His parents in the year 1849, during the famine, removed to England to prevent starvation. Here John remained till the year 1859, when he came to the United States to seek a home. He located the same year in Shelby County. In 1865 he married Ellen Shea. By this marriage they have seven children, viz., John, Mary A., Ellen, Thomas M., Elizabeth M., Bridget, and Jane. Mr. Dillon has become a citizen of the United States, and is thoroughly republican in his principles, and is proud of the land of his adoption.
ADAM GRIEP
was born in Germany in 1849. When seventeen years of age he came to the United States, and landed in New York City with only fifty cents in his pocket. He remained in the city until he sent to his brother in Cincinnati for means to take him to that city.
Mr. G. was a butcher by trade. He worked at his trade in Cincinnati some five years, then went to Chicago, from thence to St. Louis, then returned to Cincinnati. From there he went to Bellefontain and Dayton, working in each of these places. Finally in 1871 he located in De Graff, and started a shop for himself, which he ran until 1878, when he sold and bought his present farm in Perry Township, for which he paid $8000, nearly all of which has been made by the industry and economy of himself and estimable wife. In 1873 Mr. Griep married Miss Mary Miller, of Logan County. By this union they have five children, viz., Harry, born 1875; Frank, born 1876; Anna born 1878; William, born 1879; and Ella, born 1880.
CHARLES SLAGEL.
The grandfather of Charles Slagel was a German by birth, emigrated to America previous to the Revolutionary war, and settled in North Carolina. It was here that the father of Charles Slagel was born in the year 1770. When a young man he went to Virginia, lived there a short time, then removed to Kentucky, where he lived until. the year 1806, when he came to Champaign County, Ohio, with his family, which consisted of wife and. six children. Charles Slagel, the subject of this sketch, was born in Champaign County. a few months after they landed in the county (in October, 18U6). About two years afterwards they moved to Montgomery County, where Charles grew to manhood on a farm. When a young man he followed teaming to Cincinnati. In 1832 he married Susannah Snyder. By this marriage there has been eleven children, seven of them are now living, viz., Barbary A., born October 3, 1833; David D., born March 26, 1835; John W., born October 7, 1839; Jacob S., born December 6,. 1841; Elizabeth B., born. May .17, 1848; Henry A., born May 25,1850; and Jennie, born February. 9, 1855.. In 1850 he moved with his family to Shelby County, and settled on his present borne in Perry Township. Mr. Slagel has always had the respect and esteem of his neighbors. Has been elected to the offices of justice of the peace and trustee of his township. He has been a member of the M. E. Church for about sixty years. His house was the 'home of the itinerant preacher for many years. Esq. Slagel has 'now retired from the active duties of the farm, and is striving to enjoy the fruit of his early labor.
LEWIS M. GEARHART
was born in Virginia in the year 1804. Came to Champaign County, Ohio, in 1805. From there they removed to Miami County in 1818, where he lived till he came to Shelby County in 1840, and settled on section 18, Perry Township.
ANTHONY GEARHART,
a son of the above, was born in Miami County in 1831. Came with his father's family to Shelby County in 1840. The farm on which they moved was nearly all in the woods, and boys at that day who were old enough to work had but little time for school. It was here that young Gearhart received his education, by attending school a few weeks in the winter season until he was sixteen years of age, when his school privileges closed. He continued to work for his father on the farm till 1856, when he married Miss Elizabeth Burditt, by whom he has had two children, Marella J. and George L. Mr. Gearhart is located on section 24, Perry Township.
JAMES F. GEARHART,
a younger son of Lewis M. Gearhart, was born in Miami County in 1834. Came with the rest of his father's family to Shelby County in 1840. Here he received a limited education. He learned the carpenter trade, which he followed some ten years, but has followed farming the (Treater part of his life. In the year 1860 he married Miss Elizabeth. By this union they have had seven children. Their names are: Harry M., born 1861; Edwin E., born 1862 Lucinda C., born 1864; Augusta
born 1867 ; William L., born 1869; Jennie D., born 1870; and Otis E. born 1877.
William Miller, the father of Mrs. Gearhart, came to Shelby County in 1824. Caleb Goble, the grandfather of Mrs. G., was born in New Jersey in 1760. About 1792 he came to Ohio, and settled near where Lebanon, Warren County, now is, with his wife and four children. Here, in the year 1809, the mother of Mrs. G. (Lucinda Goble) was born. Caleb Goble, her father, came to what is now Shelby County in the year 1814 or 1815, and first located where Sidney now is, lived there a year or two, then moved up the river, and located on school land, near where Pt. Jefferson now is. The exact time of their. settlement cannot he given, but from what we can gather from Mrs. Miller it was immediately after the close of the war of 1812.
WASHINGTON MEDARIS
was born in North Carolina in 1795. Came.to Clermont County, Ohio, in 1804, where he grew to manhood, and learned the blacksmithing trade in Batavia. In 1819 he married Elizabeth Salters. They moved to Shelby County in June, 1831, and lived a short time in the town of Sidney. During this time he entered a piece of land in Perry Township, and moved to it with his wife and six children. He erected a cabin and a shop in the woods. Here he did blacksmithing and gunsmithing, also shoemaking for his neighbors. By this means he got his first land cleared. Not long after his location in Perry, his shop burned together with all his tools. This left him without means of support. In order to maintain his family he put his land into the trust company. He did not get it redeemed until 1847, when the interest on the loan had amounted to more than the principal. In 1843 his wife died, leaving him with ten children. In 1844 he married Matilda A. McDavitt. By this union there are nine children,. all now living. Mr. Medaris died July 17, 1881, at the age of eightysix years, having been a F. and A. M. for. thirty-six years. He was also .a Sir Knight. He died full of honors and years.
JOHN C. MAULICK
was born in Germany in the year 1810, and married Christina .C. Maulick in 1835. They had previous to their emigration to the United States three .children, two of them, died while quite young. They came to America in the year 1847, and located in Shelby County, Perry Township.. Their only child, Mary L.; married Andrew J.. Kohler: They had two children, George C. and Mary L. Mrs. Kohler died in .1863. The two grandchildren now have their home with their grandfather, Mr. Maulick, they being the only descendants now left; Mrs. Maulick having died in January, 1881.
MRS. CHARLOTTE. T. DOREN
was born in Clarke County,, Ohio, in 1826. Her father, Peter Croy, was born in Virginia in 1784, removed to Ohio in 1807, and. married. Susannah Basinger The same year they located in. Miami County. From there they moved to Clarke County, where they lived till the year 1830, when. they came to Shelby County. Peter Croy was a soldier 'under Gen. Wayne in the war of 1812, and was taken a prisoner, but the particulars of his capture cannot be given. They were neighbors of the Dilbones, who were massacred by the Indians in Miami County, and suffered all the privations and hardships of the early settlers' of that day. Peter Croy died in Miami County in 1864. His wife had died in 1848;
James H. Doren, husband of Charlotte, was born in Butler County in 1822, and came with his parents, Thomas and Jane (Hayes). Doren to Shelby County in 1832. Here, in the year 1849, he married the subject of our .sketch. By. this union they had seven children, viz.: Park B., bOrn 1850 ; Callie, born 1851; Samuel H., born 1854 ; John 'C. F., born 1856; Ada, born 1859; Cora, born 1862; and James, born 1864. They were located in section 27, Perry Township. Mr. Doren died March 25, 1877.
206 - HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
ANDREW H. SMITH
was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1822, came to Warren County, Ohio, in 1838, lived there a few years, then removed to Miami County, where in 1849 he married Alvira Scoby. They have by this marriage one child, William C., born 1853. They settled in Shelby County in 1867. Mr. Smith has been noted as a hunter. In his early life his trusty rifle was his companion in the mountains of Pennsylvania, where the bear and deer fell by its unerring aim. The wilds of western Ohio and Indiana have been his hunting grounds for many years. Mr. Smith still loves to take his old favorite rifle, and spend an idle hour in the woods, although nothing is to be found but the sportive squirrel.
HENRY R. MILLER
was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in the year 1825. He was one of ten children. His father, Conklin Miller, emigrated from New Jersey to Montgomery County in the year 1800. fie was one of the first settlers in the town of Dayton, and drove the first shingles on a roof in the town. Henry R.'s father died when he was only five years of age ; his mother died some two years later. He then went to live with Samuel Maxwell, who was his guardian, and came with him to Shelby County in 1835. He lived with Mr. Maxwell till he was seventeen years of age, when he was apprenticed to Daniel Kyler, of Dayton, for four years, to learn the blacksmithing trade, for which he received thirty-six dollars per year, or about ten cents per day. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he returned to Shelby County. He brought with him a set of tools, but had not a dollar of money. He borrowed two dollars to bring him to Sidney. He started his first shop near where Manning & Line's mill now stands. He commenced without money enough to buy a rod of nail iron. He used to go to Sidney to buy iron, when he carried it all home in his pocket, having no credit, and would not ask the merchant to trust him. This is the way he made his commencement in life. In the year 1849 he married Miss Catharine Beezley. By this union they had three children, viz., Samuel, born Aug. 25, 1850 ; John, born Nov. 16, 1853 ; Mary E. born Nov. 12, 1860. Mr. Miller followed smithing until about 1862. E., first purchase of a home was a lot of two acres; afterward bought eighty acres in section 28, Perry Township. Some time after this he bought the old Marrs homestead, where Wm. Marrs had settled in 1816. The old cabin built by Marrs in 1816, previous to his settlement, is still standing; also the frame barn, said to be the first one built in the county, is still standing : the lumber with which it is sided was sawed at Musselman's mill, on Mosquito Creek, over sixty years ago. The wife of Mr. Miller died Nov. 1862.
HENRY S. CANNON.
The ancestors of Mr. Cannon are among the very earliest settlers of this county. The date of their settlement and a more full description of the family will be found elsewhere in this work, as given by one of the older members of the family. Henry S. is a son of James and Mary Jackson Cannon. He was born in Indiana in 1836. The parents of Mr. C. had removed from Shelby County to Indiana previous to his birth. In 1877 Mr. Cannon married Miss Emma Gomm, who was born in London, Eng. Mr. and Mrs. Cannon located in Perry Township in 1881.
SMALLWOOD THOMPSON
was born in London County, Va., in 1791. He emigrated from there to Muskingum County, 0., but the time of his removal is not known. Here he married Margaret Kevitt. In the year 1829 he moved, with his wife and six children, to Perry Township, Shelby County, and settled on the east half of the N. E. quarter of section 19, land he had bought of Beeden. His land at the time of his settlement was entirely in the woods. The first school in the north part of the township was held in an old log house on his land, and was taught by John Hathaway. Mr. Thompson lived on this farm until the day of his death, which was in 1875. His remains are now resting on the same farm, in a family burying-ground. His widow still survives him, and has her home with her son, Thomas W., who is on the old homestead. Thomas W. was born in 1840. In 1665 he married Miss Lovina B. Miller, a daughter of Isaac Miller. They have had born to them seven children—Elizabeth E., Emery S., William E., Albert O., Maggie, Clarence E., and Vernon.
SOLOMON LINE
was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1814. In the year 1818 he was taken to Miami County, where he lived till 1836, when he came to Shelby County. Here, in 1841, he married Elizabeth Thompson, a daughter of Smallwood Thompson. By this marriage there were seven children, three of whom are still living, viz., Florence M., wife of Mark Riddle, Orthola T., and Dulcina, wife of Jacob Le Fevre.
Mark Riddle was born in Montgomery County in 1844, came to Shelby County in 1854, and in 1869 married Florence M. Line. They have by this union two children—Charles O., born 1871, and Harry O., born 1873. Mr. Riddle resides on the old homestead of Mrs. Riddle, where she was born, and where her father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother died. Samuel Line, the grandfather, and the grandmother, both died in 1848. Her father, Solomon Line, died in 1865 ; her mother died in 1879.
LINE FAMILY
In 1755 three brothers by the name of Line came over from England with Gen. Braddock and his army. They were, with him on the ninth day of July, at the time of his defeat near Du Quesne. Here they became separated, and all trace of one of the brothers was lost for many years. It seems that one of these brothers, for some cause, changed his name to that of Lyons. Years afterward grandchildren of two of these brothers happened to be living in the same neighborhood in Miami County. There being such a similarity in the name of Line and Lyon, that they together traced back their genealogy, and found that the ancestors of both families came from England, and were at Braddock's defeat, and from what they could gather they were the descendants of the three brothers spoken of.
John Line, a son of one of the above brothers, was born in New Jersey. The date of his birth we cannot learn, but we find that he was a soldier during the Revolutionary war, held a captain's commission, was wounded in a battle, and drew a pension as a wounded soldier for the balance of his life. Some time after the close of the war he married Miss Mary Baltzell, and emigrated to the territory of Ohio about the year 1800. They first located in what is now Brown County, where they remained until about 1830, when they removed to Shelby County, and located on land that had been purchased by his son Henry C., in Perry Town- ship. Here he died about 1834. His wife died in 1835. They raised a family of six children, all of whom came to Shelby County.
Henry C., one of these children, was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1795. He lived with his parents until arriving at manhood, when he went to Miami County. Here, about the year 1816, he married Elizabeth Millhouse, a sister of Mrs. Dilbone, who was killed by the Indians. They raised a family of eight children, viz., John, Stephen, William, David M., Margaret A., Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Amy J., only three of whom are now living. Mr. Line died in 1851, his wife having died in 1847. They came to Shelby County in 1833.
ABRAHAM LINE
was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in the year 1800. He is a son of Joseph and Magdalena (Roost) Line. The father of Joseph Line was one of the three brothers who came over from England with Gen. Braddock (spoken of elsewhere). Joseph, together with his brother John, was in the Revolutionary war. He was born in New Jersey about 1756. From New Jersey they removed to Kentucky, but the time of their removal is not known. From Kentucky they came to Ohio in 1812, and located in Brown County, where they lived until 1835, when they came to Shelby County with their son Abraham, where the father died in 1841. Abraham married Sarah Line (a daughter of John Line) in 1820. They have had born to them twelve children, five of whom are still living, viz., Levisa, John, James, Levi, and Jacob. Mr. and Mrs. Line are both; still living, he in his eighty-second and she in her eighty-fifth year, they having travelled the journey of life together for sixty-two years.
DAVID M. LINE,
a son of Henry C. Line, was born in Miami County in 1822. He lived with his parents until he arrived at his majority. In 1846 he married Miss Mary A. Robinson. For a couple of years after marriage he resided with his parents. He then bought a farm for himself, on which he lived until the death of his father, when he returned to the home place, on which he resides at the present time. They have raised a family of ten children, whose names and dates of births are as follows: Arvesta, born 1847; Easton IL, born 1849; Oscar B., born 1851; Ohio B., born 1854; Charles, born 1856; Agnes I., born 1858; I)ewit F., born 1861; Ellwood S., born 1863; Morris R., born 1866; and Olive M., born 1868.
Mr. Line is one of the prominent and successful farmers and stock-raisers of his township, having made that his business through life. He has made for himself and family a comfortable home, and is now living in the enjoyment of a competence for his remaining days.
EASTON LINE,
a son of David M. Line, was born in Shelby County in 1849. In 1872 he married' Miss Polly A. Maxwell, a daughter of Abraham and Susan M. (Vaughn) Maxwell. They have had born to them one child, viz., Claude Maxwell.
JOHN VALENTINE,
a son of Richard W. Valentine, was born in Shelby County in the year 1836. He lived with his father until he was twenty: three years of age, at which time he married Nancy J. Bailey, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Bailey, whose checkered life is given in another place in this work. After marriage Mr. Valentine moved to Indiana, where he remained until 1866, when he moved to Illinois, where he remained until
208 - HISTORY OE SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
1875, when he returned to Shelby County, and located in Perry Township. He is the owner of the William Richardson homestead, one of the early settled farms of the country. They have reared a family of seven children, whose names are as follows: Mary A., Jonas I., William F., Levi E., Richard H., Samuel A., and Earl. Mr. Valentine is the owner of a well-improved farm with good building, a view of which is shown in this work.
ABRAHAM MAXWELL
was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1825. Came with his father, Samuel Maxwell, to Shelby County in 1835. He was by trade a miller, and owned the mills on Mosquito Creek, where the Manning and Line mills now stand. In 1846 he married Melvina Vaughn. By this union there was born to them six children, Polly A., Brezilla H., Loretta J., Edmund S., Franklin V , and William W.
Mr. Maxwell died in 1864. His widow still survives, and resides near the old homestead. Thompson Vaughn, the father of Mrs. M., was born in Virginia in 1791, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. In 1811 he married Ann Dickensheets. There were born to them twelve children. Mrs. Maxwell, one pf the twelve, was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1827 (where her father had settled in.1815). Came with her parents to Shelby County in 1835.
JACOB KERNS.
In tracing back the genealogy of the above, we can go back to the middle of the eighteenth century, when Stuffel Kerns came to America from Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania. Here he married Barbary Utt. They raised a family of eleven children. Joseph, one of the eleven, was born in Pennsylvania in 1786. Was brought by his father to Ohio in 1794. They located near Cincinnati. While living here he and four of his brothers enlisted in the army, and served under Gen. Harrison. Soon after the war he married Barbary Markley, and immediately moved to Miami County, where he now resides in his ninety-fifth year, having lived on the same farm about seventy years. They raised a family of nine childen. Jacob, the fourth child of the above, was born in 1822. He lived with his father in Miami County until 1843, when he came to Shelby, and, the same year, married Emiline A. Elliott. They have raised a family of four children, viz., .Joseph L., Stephen W., Cyrus T., and Cerena M. Mrs. Kerns died in 1873.
OLIVER POLING
was born in Union County, 0., in 1855; married Mary S. West in 1878; have one child, Charles Wesley, born 1879. Mr. Poling resides at the home of Mrs. West, who came to Shelby County in 1829.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
This township occupies the northeast corner of the county, and is one of the latest settlements within the county. The surface is level for the greater part, although some rolling land is found. The soil is fertile and very productive. Development is making rapid strides, and after a few more years drainage will be so far complete that the land will all be tillable. The northeast corner of the township is yet rather new and wild, but this is yielding up its rudeness to the sway of the axe and plow. Several small streams take their rise here, and separated by a dividing ridge crossing near the centre from west to east, the watershed is toward the northeast and southeast. Auglaize County borders the township on the north, Logan County on the east, Salem Township on the south, and Dinsmore and Franklin townships on the west.
Settlement.
This township is among the youngest, being the most remote from the early settled portion of the county. So far as we have been able to ascertain, but one family, that of James McCormick, came here as early as 1831, from Greene County, and entered land in section 34. The year 1832 shows no accessions, so far as we can learn, while the following year it appears Andrew Nogle came from Fairfield -County and occupied land in section 30. Again, the year 1834 only shows the arrival of Thomas Cathcart, who came here in March from Montgomery County and entered land in the northwest corner of section 33. The next year it .appears David Snider came from Montgomery County, and William Johnston, who settled in section 20. In 1837 John W. Knight entered land in section 17, Jephtha M. Davis in section 4, Dudley Hughes, and William Babcock, the latter entering land in section 8. In 1838 Jonathan Howell came from Clarke County and occupied a part of section 18, and in 1839 SaMuel Brandenberg came from Montgomery County and settled on section 22. In 1843 Christian Hawver, of Miami County, settled in northwest quarter of section 33 in 1845 Peter Hawver came from the same county and purchased .160 acres of the McPherson survey, and about a year later George Hawver came from the same county and settled in the same survey. Aside from these classified settlers, it appears the following named persons settled in different parts of the township prior to 1836, although the individual dates cannot be obtained with certainty : Mathew Vandine, Timothy Wale, Julius Wale, Moses Quick, Kimmer Hudson, Henry Roland, Lewis Bland, Reuben Clayton, and Wm. Dawdon. It further appears pretty-conclusive that Jacob H. and David Babcock came here in 1840, and Luther L. Davis in 1837. Although these dates are all comparatively recent, they represent the infantile years of this township, and while they were not necessarily characterized by the same privations suffered in the older townships, they were yet years of distinctive toil and no inconsiderable penury. Vast drainage was necessary, and is yet incomplete, while heavy timber knew no bounds. It was real pioneer life with all its incidents and most of its deprivations. Here, as elsewhere throughout the county, the pioneer knew how to work, and bravely encountered the elements while contending with the wilderness by which he was surrounded.
LIST OF OFFICERS.
Justices of the Peace.
